App User Lifecycle: The Four Stages of Ensuring Happy Users

We all just want to be understood, right?

Think of your role as an app user, consumer, and customer - not as a marketer. Which companies - the ones that you interact with - do you feel have a deep understanding of and appreciation for your needs, desires, and interests?

We’ve found that 94% of marketers think they know their users very well or are satisfied with how well they know their users - that means we should be jumping for joy, right? The game is won! We understand our users and thus our app can’t fail. Huzzah!

You’re not alone if you think this seems… premature. The truth is, many marketers do know their customers - from buyer personas to web analytics, there have been enough years worth of data to discover who your audience actually is. But that was before mobile.

Mobile created movement - your prospects and customers are now interacting with you “on the go,” across channels, and often, in real time (in other words, right now and often). Traditional data and analytics don’t show you everything you need to know about your app users. In fact, they will only show you a small piece of the overall picture because they can’t track this movement. Instead, you’re getting only a single point of view at a singular part in their lifetime, versus understanding them throughout their lifetime as a user and as a customer.

Essentially, using the lifecycle view allows you to keep your users at the center of everything. Sounds appealing, right?

The user lifecycle, sometimes known as a customer journey, is helpful when it comes to mobile marketing because it also acts as an organizing framework. With mobile, the term “big data” became an overwhelming reality for marketers. The lifecycle frameworks provides a way for you leverage your data and experiences in a step by step way that addresses the real needs and motivations of your users.

Here’s how the user lifecycle framework helps you:

You can: Glean insights from data better understand the customer and create a truly valuable experience

You can: Get a customer-centric view that ensures the focus is on moving every customer through the lifecycle based on their individual behaviors and actions - not group assumptions

You can: Deliver personalized messages based on user interests, desires, and needs that highlight what they want and drive your business forward

Let’s take a look at the four stages of the user lifecycle, how they apply to your app, and what you can do at each stage (Acquire, Engage, Grow & Retain) to harness and drive long-term loyalty.

The Next Step?

Smart app marketing demands powerful analytics. Only Localytics brings app marketing and analytics together in one solution. Used in more than 28,000 apps on more than 1.5 billion devices, Localytics helps companies like ESPN, eBay, Fox, and the New York Times drive user engagement, loyalty and customer lifetime value.